


Laid Bare

by Seleya889 (Hinky_Hippo)



Category: NCIS
Genre: Angst, Episode Fix-it, Episode: s07e01 Truth or Consequences, Gen, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Prompt Fill, Reverse Big Bang Challenge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-17
Updated: 2016-05-17
Packaged: 2018-06-09 02:35:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6885625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hinky_Hippo/pseuds/Seleya889
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Episode tag to Truth or Consequences. After the rescue in Somalia, Gibbs comes to some tough realizations after a talk with a chemically compromised DiNozzo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jilly James (Jilly)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jilly/gifts).



Thank you so much to Jilly for her lovely art prompt! It was great to write again with such an inspiring idea. I hope you enjoy it! :)

Please visit Jilly's art post to leave kudos for her work! Laid Bare by Jilly James

Special thanks to annsan for the handholding and assistance when I needed it the most! 

 

 

 

After a day out in the bright, equatorial sun, the change to dark when he rushed inside the compound briefly blinded Gibbs. He plowed on down the shadowed halls, blinking rapidly and shaking his head to clear his eyes. Turning a corner, he didn’t hesitate when he saw a hostile point a rifle down a bisecting corridor.

One shot and then another. Quick. Efficient. Deadly.

He needed to find his people. Safe. Unharmed. The wash of relief that flowed over him when Tim rose into view after he sniped Saleem was indescribable. He didn’t come all of this way to save one only to lose another.

Clearing the dead body confirmed his gut feeling as he peered down the corridor. His whole body relaxed ever so slightly when he watched in relief as his team drew up in surprise. Gibbs couldn’t still the pounding of his heart when he saw all three of them staring back at him in his ghillie suit.

Enveloping himself in confidence he didn’t quite yet feel, Gibbs quirked a smile. “Let’s go home,” he said with a nod.

As Gibbs’ words broke the tension, Tim’s hand wavered and fell, once he recognized the shaggy apparition in front of him. The gun hung loosely from his fingers. Glancing over Ziva’s head, he could see the grin slowly spreading across Tony’s face. Rivulets of perspiration clung to the senior field agent’s face, as he wordlessly urged his teammates forward.

With a stifled sob, Ziva disappeared into the ghillie suit momentarily before Gibbs herded them all towards the exit and freedom.

With Ziva curled against his side and the windswept sand coming in the open windows stinging his eyes, Gibbs hung on tight as the Humvees raced across the arid Somali plain. In the distance, he could see the C-130 drop out of the sky like a lumbering bumblebee as the Humvees rushed to meet it. Belying its size, the huge plane made short work of the open Somali road. It dropped its rear ramp to drag in the sand before coming to a full stop.

The drivers didn’t hesitate as they rushed their trucks up the ramp. While Gibbs bundled his team into the belly of the plane, the SEALs jumped out of their vehicles in a well-executed dance to secure the trucks and then themselves as the ramp closed behind them and the idling engines of the plane roared to life. Within minutes, the Hercules aircraft was back in the air and pointed towards home with everyone safe in its underbelly. As it lifted clear, two F-16s blew by them, waggling their wings at them as the fighters rushed towards Saleem’s compound to finish the job the SEAL team had started.

Turning the sand into glass, and the terrorists' plans to dust.

Resting into the webbing lining the airplane’s walls, Gibbs looked on in relieved satisfaction as his team each got checked out by the medics. Both of his men looked like they had been roughed up, but appeared relatively intact. And Ziva, Ziva was a bit shell-shocked but alive. She had yet to release him since the moment he finally found them as they rushed to safety. Both Tim and Tony seemed to be fully focused on Ziva, but Gibbs didn’t miss the occasional worried looks Tim seemed to be shooting Tony and the way his senior agent was ignoring his partner, nor did he fail to notice Tony’s furtiveness where Ziva was concerned, or how she was avoiding looking in their direction as well while still wholly directing her attention their way.

Flapping his hands, Tony irritatedly waved the medic away with a grumble.

He could see Ziva still nestled against his boss. Vulnerable. Bewildered. Triumphant. A serpent in their midst. Tony could see it now. He could see the betrayal. He could feel it – like the grind of concrete through a high thread count suit on fresh bruises, and the thrust of a Sig against his chest in the brutal Tel Aviv sun. The canny way she surreptitiously watched him now. Measuring her advantage. Knowing both his and Gibbs’ weaknesses. Or, so she thought. The drugs raging in his system giving him clarity he had refused until now.

He had told her to get over herself, and he had meant it. He would have done the same for any one of them. He had done much the same before, ending up with a bagful of antibiotics, a few more scars clouding his chest x-rays, and not so much as a word of thanks.

The loss of the adrenaline gave the drugs room to run. Access to receptors they had yet to invade. He needed out. Needed air and time to think. He was much too exposed. Without another word, Tony stumbled away from where he was sitting, looking for some form of escape. Privacy to think. Refuge from scrutiny.

Attentively watching Tim’s growing agitation after Tony abruptly jumped up and stumbled further into the plane, with a few soft words, Gibbs extricated himself from Ziva’s grasp to check on his two men. As he approached his youngest agent, he couldn’t help but notice how Tim’s worried scrutiny had transferred entirely to his Senior Field Agent.

“What’s up with DiNozzo?”

“Saleem injected him with something. He said it was a cocktail of drugs he made himself with sodium pentothional and some other components. Like a truth serum, Boss,” Tim explained with a troubled glance at Tony.

Gibbs’ gut clenched. No wonder Tony was so tightlipped from the moment they ran into each other in the terrorists’ camp. It had taken him a while to find his men in the compound. He had been watching from high on a hill when they had been brought in, but it had taken one of the other sniper’s spotters to notice them in the room Saleem had eventually locked them into. By that time, Tony was already tied to a chair and being interrogated by the terrorist.

“Doc!” Gibbs waved the chief medic over as he asked Tim, “About when did this happen?”

“I don’t know. Maybe 6 hours ago? It might be a little less.”

The medic looked curiously at Tim. “What are we talking about?”

Gibbs nodded over to Tony, who by now had found a quiet corner well aft and seemed to be trying to make himself invisible. “Got injected with something before we found ‘em. A truth serum they made themselves. He’s crap with meds.”

The corpsman sighed. “That’s the one who had the plague?”

Gibbs nodded as he remembered not only blue lights but too many bad reactions over the years, including his first introduction to Tony on medication, which had scared the absolute shit out of him. “Duck gave you his history.”

“His blood pressure is a bit low, especially for someone who just escaped a terrorist camp.” The corpsman frowned. “We wanted to start a line, but he only let us get a really basic workup in before he refused treatment. If he’s got barbiturates and god knows what else on board, we need to be monitoring him.”

Gibbs growled in annoyance as he glared at the apparently dozing form of his senior field agent. “Tim, go sit with Ziver. Keep her occupied,” he instructed, before turning to the corpsman. “Doc, what can we expect?”

“Sodium pentothional is pretty short acting, but who knows what else was in the mix. Some barbiturates have a half-life of over a day, and then there are opiates that can act as agonists with them. If you’ll help me get a blood sample, we might be able to figure out what he was given, but we’re already 6 hours post-injection, so we’ll probably never know the full cocktail. I’ll flag him for no meds unless we have no choice in the matter.”

Rising and summoning the medic to follow with the flick of a finger, Gibbs stalked over to where Tony curled with his head bowed. “DiNozzo, let the doc take a look at you.”

Tony looked over his shoulder at his boss, obviously far more alert than Gibbs had original suspected. “They already looked. I just want to be left alone, Boss. I’m sure there are people worse off than me.”

“They pumped full of unknown drugs, DiNozzo?”

Tony’s head shot up and then bowed with a wince at the sudden movement.

“If you know what’s wrong with me, then don’t make me talk, Boss,” Tony pleaded. “I just want to sleep.”

"Sleep in a bit. I'm gonna need some answers first."

Tony looked at his boss with resentment. Gibbs knew he was compromised. Why was he surprised he took the opportunity to take advantage of it? He protectively crossed his arms around his aching chest and hunkered down.

“What’s up between you and Ziva?”

“What’s up?” Tony asked in outrage. “You mean, now? This time? Where the fuck have you been, Gibbs?” He bit his tongue and turned into the fuselage. Don’t talk. Don’t talk. Do. Not. Talk.

The chemical miasma coiled through his body and laughed.

He flinched as a warm hand rested on his shoulder, and a flash of disappointment tore through him when the next voice was of the medic instead. “Agent DiNozzo, I need to reassess you. To make sure you’re good to go.” The medic gently eased him back so he could see him.

“I think one of my ribs is broken.” He slammed his mouth shut with a click. Damnit!

His eyes surveying his second in command. Gibbs catalogued the darkening bruises and the slight sheen of sweat. He frowned and raised his free hand to lay it gently on his second’s forehead.

Tony’s eyes darted to his. “It’s stuffy in here, Boss. I’m just a little hot.”

Tony’s honesty resounded, but Gibbs didn’t allow it to make him feel guilty for doing what he had to do.

“Let the doc get a good look atacha.” Raising an eyebrow he admonished, “No arguments. We need to know how bad off you are.”

Tony wouldn’t meet his eyes as the doctor coached him into taking his shirt off. Gibbs glare darkened when he saw the livid bruises across his second’s torso. In places, the bootmarks were plainly evident. When Tony laid back with a hiss, the medic’s hands flew expertly to an almost black spot on his lower ribcage.

“At least one of these ribs is broken. Based on the bruising, at least two others may be cracked.” Expert fingers traced his abdomen. “Is there anything else I should know about?”

Tony shook his head. “They beat the shit out of both of us when we were captured.” He winced when the hands ghosted over his side. “I might be peeing red for a couple of days,” he reluctantly admitted, “but it’s mostly just bruises. I’ve had worse.”

Gibbs knew all too much the truth to that, and that Tony would bounce up from this as well, but couldn’t avoid the feeling of failure every injury to one of his men caused him.

“I’d like to get an IV in, just in case we need it. You could use some fluids,” the medic persisted over Tony’s shaking head.

“No needles.”

“How about you let me at least grab a sample? One needle. In and out. You’ve probably already metabolized some of it, but the docs might need to know when we reach Rota.”

Tony looked beseechingly at his boss.

Ignoring his second, Gibbs nodded to the medic. “Do it. IV, too.”

The medic quickly assembled his equipment and got to work, while Tony watched in detached trepidation.

“DiNozzo, with me,” Gibbs commanded. He waited for the green eyes to drag themselves away from scrutinizing the medic to meet his own. “I need to know what happened in there. What’s happening now.” His scrutiny bored right into Tony’s soul.

Tony couldn’t stop it. Couldn’t control it. Like he always did, Gibbs took the advantage, knowing all that he hid. All that he wouldn’t admit to was exposed. No defense. His deflections long used up with Saleem. He had nowhere to hide. No masks left. The drugs left him unprotected to his very essence. Vulnerable. Laid bare.

“Boss...”

His plea was met with a raised eyebrow. A self-assuredly expectant look.

He bit back his response. Fought it down even as it clawed its way to the surface. His pulse rate quickened. The fire along his nerve endings flared uncontrollably. And then. “She’s pissed I was part of the rescue,” Tony explained bitterly. “Said as much when she was brought in with us. She wanted to know if Tim was okay. I’m tired of being treated like shit by her and being expected to just take it. I’ve always had her back. I don’t deserve it!”

“Whaddaya mean, Tony?” Gibbs gently prompted. He hadn’t missed the battle going on in Tony’s eyes, the sweat that skittered along a newly pulsating vein in his second’s forehead, or the way the corpsman had reacted in alarm in his peripheral vision.

His jaws clenching, Tony looked away. With desperate eyes he shook his head at his boss.

“I need to know, Tony. If this is about the team, I gotta know.”

His jaw still clenched, Tony choked out, “I’d never let anything endanger the team, Boss.”

“I know,” he placated. “But, I gotta know what’s bothering you.”

“She doesn’t trust me. Hasn’t ever trusted me. Pigeonholed me the minute she did that dossier for her brother. Agent Meatball.” Tony looked at his hands. “’s probably why Ari targeted Kate instead of me. I’m not worth killing.”

Gibbs lightly tapped the back of his agent’s head. “Don’t ever let me hear you say that again!”

“It’s true!”

“Anthony, I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again, you are irreplaceable!” As Tony’s eyes drifted to Tim, Gibbs regretted that off the cuff remark from years ago once again as he asserted, “I mean it, damnit!” He reached out and massaged the back of Tony’s neck with one hand, bringing his focus back to himself. “I mean it.” His own eyes pricked at the memory of Kate on the asphalt rooftop, her blood forming an obscene halo around her, and the sight of Tony’s shocked face peppered with Kate’s blood, brain matter, and bone fragments. The mixed feeling of loss at Kate’s death and relief that Tony was alive. The rage and helplessness which left him exposed in the open, daring Ari to meet him on his own terms, before Tony dragged him, fighting every step of the way, to cover. Tony who he could have knocked over with a feather after his recent bout with the plague and who should have been resting on his couch instead of saving his boss’ ass.


	2. Chapter 2

 

Interrupting the awkward silence, the corpsman seized the lull in the conversation to enlist Gibbs’ aid. Despite Tony’s protestations, it was easier on the younger agent if his boss held him up as the medic efficiently completed his exam. Easing Tony back onto the bench, Gibbs rested his hand on his shoulder for just a moment longer, signaling for him to stay down. For the time being, Tony complied. His skin tingled and he couldn’t get the buzzing in his brain to stop. The desert grit that clung to his skin and had burrowed up under his clothes itched. His head pounded. It was so much easier to let go. Follow someone else’s lead. To obey.

 

A different fire, however, raged in his belly. A fire that got him through a mother’s death. A father’s virtual abandonment. Lost dreams. A child lost, despite a child saved. Disappointments. Extenuating circumstances. New purpose. Don’t give up until after the last buzzer. Smile when it hurts. Never let them see you sweat.

 

“You remember when she first came to us, Boss? The first time you really paired us up was for that undercover op. When we were supposed to be the married assassins. She kept screwing up, Boss. Called me by my name. Subtle as a jackhammer. If that’s what Mossad calls undercover skills, their standards aren’t what I expected. I got her out of there as soon as I could. I couldn’t see another partner killed, Boss.” Tony mournfully sought Gibbs’ eyes.

 

Off the understanding nod, he continued, “Less than a week later, she invited everyone, including the gremlin, to a dinner party at her apartment. Everyone except me. I’m a big boy. I don’t expect to be included in everything, but the way she rubbed it in my face, and then claimed I was cut by a splinter. That crease took eleven stitches and ruined my denim jacket…” His eyes glistening, he looked away. “Crap’s making me maudlin.”

 

“That was a long time ago, Tony.” Gibbs cautioned.

 

Picking at the IV the medic had left in, Tony mumbled, “That’s just when it started…”

 

A hand gently stilled his and slipped in to cover the tubing. Nervously clenching his free hand in his lap, he then looked up at Gibbs with a plea in his eyes. “I can’t turn it off, Boss.”

 

A quirk of a smile led to a long pregnant pause. Pursing his lips, Gibbs nodded for him to continue.

 

“She undermines me. Gets Tim to join in. Disobeys orders. She lied to me about Rivkin; it could have gotten you and Tim killed! She hid him even though she knew he wasn’t supposed to be there. When I killed him, she blamed me.” Tony chewed his lower lip to try to contain his runaway mouth.

 

Gibbs’ gentle “Hey” alerted him to the taste of copper.

 

Tony sucked his lip in and worried the small wound with the tip of his tongue where a tooth had bitten through. Looking up at Gibbs with an openly wounded expression, he asked, “Why did you let them take me to Israel? Haven’t I always done what you asked? Don’t you trust me?”

 

Averting his eyes from Gibbs’ startled look, Tony glanced around the plane. He could see over to where Tim has settled next to Ziva, pretending not to watch them while still clearly remaining vigilant. Even as he noticed the furtive, accusatory glares from Ziva, he couldn’t miss the way Tim sheltered and contained her while watching him from across the plane with concern. His heart swelled with pride even as it ached with loss. He had done this before. Moved on. It had become a part of who he was. No compromises. He could do this.

 

“When we get home, you’ll have my resignation.”

 

Glancing over his shoulder in surprise to see what could have spurred that announcement and then back at his Senior Field Agent, Gibbs demanded, “What the Hell are you talking about?!”

 

“Everyone wanted her back,” Tony reasoned. “Everyone wants her back. I think it’s a huge mistake, but I’m not gonna get in the way. I’m expendable. I’ll get a transfer. Maybe Fornell still wants me, even though I make his suits look cheap. It’ll save him coming all the way over to NCIS to arrest me next time. Just promise me you’ll watch out for Tim and your own six.”

 

“DiNozzo…”

 

“It’s fine, Boss!” Tony blurted out. “It’s not like it’d be the first time I left because of a dirty partner. You know that. It’s bad enough she won’t follow my lead; how can I trust someone who wanted me dead? It’s better this way.”

 

“She told you that?” Gibbs’ outrage had several nearby crew members staring.

 

“After my little chat with her father in Israel, I ran into her. She was pissed and so was I. I told her to get it out of her system and take a swing if it made her feel any better.”

 

“So, she did?”

 

Tony tried to take a deep breath, but the pain overrode it. His ribs ached, and his head pounded. He had held it in for so long, this secret. He was loyal to his own disadvantage. He was not a rat; he never told about Stinky John, not a word uttered to anyone but Gibbs about Danny, and he couldn’t tell about Ziva. The cocktail surging through his veins was another matter. It held no antiquated nobility; it didn’t care. Tony averted his gaze from the unrelenting stare.

 

“Tony, talk to me.”

 

“Boss…”

 

“I need to know.”

 

Tony shook his head against the jangling nerves. He clenched his hands tight where he had his arms crossed against his chest.

 

“Anthony…tell me.” Gibbs persuaded in that unrelenting way of his that always got Tony to spill.

 

“She threw me down on the ground.” Tony’s eyes widened as Gibbs’ darkened at the realization that the additional injuries Ducky found later came from further betrayal, but his mouth ran free. “Shoved a gun against my chest. My thigh. Told me what I should have done. That he should have lived – not me! But, she wasn’t there, Boss! I begged him to stop! I held my fire as long as I could!”

 

“Easy. Easy,” Gibbs crooned as he stroked the soft hair.

 

“I gotta leave, Boss,” Tony practically begged.

 

“The Hell you’re not!” Gibbs gripped Tony by both shoulders, only relaxing his grip a little when the other man winced in pain. “She made me choose, and I chose you!”

 

Tony looked at his boss in shock. “Wait. What?”

 

Gibbs enunciated, “I. Chose. You. In Tel Aviv. Ziva wanted me to choose. I didn’t even have to think about it. There was only one choice.” His fond look proclaimed ‘bonehead’.

 

“I thought,” Tony was floored by the revelation. He slumped in exhaustion. Spent. His mind was already a whirlwind of emotions, both genuine and altered. “I didn’t realize… Boss…”

 

“Rule 5, Sundance. And, Rule 1 while we’re at it. Consider it a two-fer.” At Tony’s tired grin of recognition, Gibbs nodded absolution. “Enough yabba. Sleep that crap off. I got your six.” Gibbs pulled his chair closer to his agent, fully turning his back on the others and blocking Tony’s view of the other two. Right now, Tony needed rest and Gibbs needed to think. Both knowing, right now, they couldn’t escape the truth.

 

_________________________________________________________________

 

The steps across the floor above him were unmistakable. Light. Measured. The steps of a dancer. Or an assassin. Gibbs frowned as he bent to his task, sanding perhaps a bit too roughly as he waited for the inevitable confrontation. Realizing he was doing more harm than good, he tossed the sandpaper down onto his workbench, and uncapped his bottle of Jack. Pouring himself enough for fortification, he stood and waited.

 

The chisel was a surprise, though it probably shouldn’t have been. For a woman who had spied on them all for the better part of four years, perhaps it should have been expected. The request, on the other hand, was one he had anticipated. He looked her over coolly.

 

“You asked me to choose before,” Watching her carefully while turning the chisel over in his hand, he asked, “Has anything changed?”

 

Ziva reeled back in surprise. “My father abandoned me to die, and the closest man I have to a father is going to turn me away?”

 

Shaking his head, Gibbs corrected, “Your father was looking for you. Mossad was everywhere. We just beat them to you with old fashioned police work.” He allowed a feral smile with lots of teeth. Gibbs was proud of his team, and especially Tony for figuring it out. They, once again, beat Mossad at their own game. “You need to call him. Let him know you’re okay.”

 

“I am sure the Director has called him.”

 

“The Director isn’t his daughter.” He chided.

 

With an impatient shake of her head, she declared. “I have no use for my father.”

 

Gibbs stepped into her space with a glare. “He is the only one you have. I don’t have room on my team for spies. I don’t have to choose again – it’s not even a contest. You betrayed us, Ziva. Or, do you deny that you spied on us?”

 

"I was following orders. As a Marine, you do understand orders, do you not, Gibbs?"

 

“Someone order you to assault DiNozzo after Rivkin messed him up?”

 

Ziva blinked. “Who told you about that? Tony? I should have expected as much from him.”

 

“I got that outta him while he was hopped up on truth serum after saving your ass. Think you can answer that question truthfully?”

 

She glared at him. “I was angry.”

 

“Angry at him, or someone else?”

 

Ziva flailed her arms in the air. “Why are you asking these questions? Have I not paid enough? Did you rescue me just to abandon me?!”

 

“I made a choice, Ziver. You made me choose and I chose. I cannot have a spy on my team. Go back to your father. Back to Israel.”

 

“I cannot go back to Israel,” she insisted with a definitive shake of her ponytail.

 

Gibbs scrubbed his face for a moment with a sigh, before asking, “After all that you have done, do you really think there is a place for you here?”

 

Dark eyes glared back at him, the eyes dilated in fear. “What are you saying?”

 

Gibbs shrugged. “We made allowances for you to be a liaison and you spied on us.”

 

“I will become a citizen, if that is what it takes.”

 

“They don’t give citizenship to spies, and they sure as hell don’t give jobs to them. You’re lucky you were allowed back in the country.”

 

“I was not a spy, Gibbs!”

 

“You withheld critical information from your team. You answered to another sovereign nation. And then, there’s that laptop we found in your apartment.”

 

“I know nothing about a laptop!”

 

“Prove it. You hid Rivkin, why not that as well?”

 

She shook her head in denial. “I was not involved with that! That was Michael and my father.”

 

“I don’t care how much they played you; even without truth serum, I know you’re lying.” Gibbs frowned at the furious woman in front of him. He tipped his head. “In Somalia, how did you know McGee was in the room? According to both of them, he was behind you.”

 

A slight widening of her eyes was his only answer. He pressed on. “You’re in better shape than either of them. You gave up the escape plan Tony fed you.”

 

“I pled for their lives! Tony did not even seem to care.”

 

“You couldn’t have helped McGee? You were right next to them!”

 

“I… I…” Ziva flailed her arms around. “They were killers, Gibbs!”

 

“That’s the problem, Ziver, I cannot trust you. There’s no place at NCIS for a mole. Vance still has to answer for allowing you access when he was aware of your activity. There’s no way he’d let you back, even if I agreed to it.” Stepping forward, Gibbs presented the chisel back to her. He watched her as she numbly clenched it in her hands, while a silent tear tracked down her cheek. Sighing mightily, he pulled her, unresisting, into one last hug, and kissed the top of her head, before gently bracing her in front of him so that he could meet her eyes. “Go home, Ziva. It’s over.” He released her then and turned away, back to his workbench. She was dismissed.

 

After a brief pause, Gibbs could hear the soft footsteps slowly climb the stairs behind him. He heard the gentle squeak on that one board on the landing. And then his front door open and shut. Turning, he gently lifted the chisel from where it had been left balanced on the keel of his boat. His heart heavy with resigned certainty, he contemplated the tool.

 

“Sorry, Boss.” Sounded from under the stairs where Tony had vanished when Ziva arrived. He materialized from out of the shadows, but stayed well back on the other side of the boat.

 

Gibbs frowned at the way his second wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Damnit, DiNozzo! Stop blaming yourself.”

 

"I should have done something sooner. Maybe none of this would have happened.”

 

“Or, maybe someone could have been killed.”

 

“What about Ziva?”

 

“It’s over. Not much we can do anyways. She’ll go back to Israel. We move on.”

 

Tony’s head bowed in defeat.

 

“DiNozzo…” Gibbs sighed. “Tony,” When his second met his eyes he quirked a grin. “I let Vance take you to Israel because I had faith in you.”

 

“What?”

 

“There’s no one in the world I trust more than you. I knew we would always be saddled with it, if you didn’t uncover the truth for everyone to see. I never meant for you to get hurt. You made me proud.” His grin turned into a smug smile. “You should have seen Vance’s face!”

 

The returning smile was slow to come, before it suddenly blossomed across Tony’s face. “Yeah?”

 

“Oh, yeah. Come on, I got some steaks marinating.”


End file.
